This is a pretty LSAT-specific admissions question so I thought I'd post it here. However, please let me know if I should move it to the LSAT board.

Just had a quick question. I know the whole admissions process is abstract and there aren't any discrete standards (well for the most part anyway), but with regards to the LSAT -- do you guys know whether committees evaluate an applicant's score primarily in comparison to the percentile in general (ie 172 = 99%, period), in comparison to others in the same ethnic background (there might be fewer 170s percentage-wise for some ethnicities than others), to geography (170 might be rarer from 1000-population Bumbletown, middle-of-nowhere US than from Boston or NYC), or in comparison to others from the same undergrad school? I know it's never cut and dry, but do you guys know which typically factors the most?

Reason I'm asking is that I might edge out a bit on geographical/ethnic basis (don't want to seem like a jerk or anything -- note the heavy emphasis on "might" here) but it'd be more difficult to edge out my undergrad percentiles, since my school's median is 164-165. Of course I'm just gonna study my butt off and try to score as high as possible, but I'm not sure what my score is yet and I don't know what I'll be up against. Need to see how realistic my chances are in which schools (especially with less-than-stellar GPA).

Actually, my GPA is part of the situation that is putting so much pressure on my LSAT score. I was actually disqualified academically several years ago, worked for a while, and then returned to school. Since returning I've maintained a 4.0, but when it all averages out, depending on what LSDAS does, it probably won't crack 3.0 overall. Thus the obsession with scoring well on the LSAT.

Are you me??? (well, except for the disqualification part. )

Seriously though, I'm on the same boat. GPA sucks, not below 3.0 but not enough by itself. LSAT's ok but stuck in the same range as yours. I'm hoping to push it up past that magical 175 mark (which seems like a miracle at this point). Otherwise I'd have to rely on undergrad school + geographical URM to hopefully set me apart

Thanks for the advice guys! I think I'm gonna use Jeffort's LR tool just to hammer my problem LR areas one by one (the abstract ones -- method, flaw, etc). Will let you guys know if I see some improvements in the next few days...

My motivation has been falling through the cracks. I cant bring myself to review material for hours on end like I used to. The only thing I take away from the study sessions now is "What the *&?* was I thinking". I dont learn anything except for that I know how to make idiotic mistakes. I havent decided what Im going to do with the mountains of material I have been preparing with. I was thinking about burning it. What are your thoughts?

This is me to a tee . Motivation's been building up the last few days, but last week I was completely out of it.

I'm having the same problem as you guys. Been stuck in the 171-174 range in my last 7 or so tests (with the occasional dip to 169, which is depressing). (And I don't mean to sound like an ass with these scores, but I really need the 175+ to offset my crappy GPA).

My main plan right now:

LR -- I usually get -2 to -3 per section on this one, but occasionally -0 and occasionally -5. Wtf. One pattern though -- I seem to be getting the abstract problems incorrect, ie Method/Flaw/Principle/Evaluate. So I'm gonna be using Jeffort's excellent LR tool to just hammer out each question from all the preptests I've done so far (7-28). Did all Method questions for preptests 19-28 yesterday and got nothing wrong, so I'm crossing my fingers that this will help.

LG -- For some reason this just 'clicked' for me about a week ago. Before I usually get -2 to -3 wrong because of running out of time, but for the last couple of tests I've finished all the games with no mistakes and remaining time. I attribute it to getting more rest, hehe, and the LG barrage I've been doing (basically for a couple of days I just sat down and did every single LG I've done back to back).

RC - This is my strong spot; I don't think I've ever gotten more than -2 in any test (and usually -0/-1). I'm hoping this'll carry through to the actual test, though of course I think it's still worth practicing.

I think we're all waiting for it to just 'click', but I feel the only way to do that is more and more practice. Good luck guys!

Not sure how sensitive LSAC's scantrons are. They have told me that bubbling in additional answers (like Q29 on a 28 question section) will not be detected by the scanner. Marks in the margin I'm not sure.

Why don't you just circle the question number in the booklet?

Seems like it'd be faster to just mark it on the sheet right? With the booklet, you'd have to leaf through to see which one you skipped. (Marking it on the sheet would also reduce the likelihood of bubbling mistakes...)